Contemporary slave labor: The contributions of the dialogue between the Inter-American Human Rights System and Brazil to strengthen the worker dignity

Abstract

This is an original research that studies how the Inter-American Human Rights System contributed to the expansion of the legal concept of slave labor and to the conceptual update of the term slavery in the light of the interpretation of Article 6 of the American Convention on Human Rights. The case study method is used to observe the dynamic feedback process resulting from the interaction between the Inter-American System and the Brazilian legal system. The study starts with the José Pereira case, before the Inter-American Commission, to verify the impact of the commitments to change the penal type of reduction to a condition analogous to that of a slave, by Law n. 10,803/2003. Then, in Fazenda Brasil Verde Workers Case, the Inter-American Court found the scenario of persistent violation of human rights in relation to decent work. In the context of this second case, the survey highlights the updating of the concept of slavery, which constitutes an interpreted conventional rule and the dialogue between the Inter-American Court and national jurisprudence, particularly the Federal Supreme Court, for the application of the rule more favorable to the protection of human beings. Finally, the construction of a Latin American Ius Constitutionale Commune seeks ways of resisting offensives aimed at reducing the Brazilian concept of slave labor. In conclusion, the dialogue between the inter-American and Brazilian courts, in a double-track process of inter-Americanization, guarantees the non-setback in human rights and functions as a legal barrier to contain the desired unconventional conceptual review.